


doing the right thing

by Captain_Toad



Category: X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Post-X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), kind of, your honor theyre in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-28 12:55:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30139881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Captain_Toad/pseuds/Captain_Toad
Summary: The moments after Apocalypse's defeat.
Relationships: Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier
Comments: 2
Kudos: 45





	doing the right thing

**Author's Note:**

> little oneshot that has been stuck in my brain for a while so i finally decided to get it down. enjoy!

Under the Apocalypse, they did not have names. There was no Erik, only Magneto. In a way, Magneto was glad for this. Erik died the moment the arrow pierced through his daughter and wife’s chest. Erik was buried alongside them. Erik was the name of a man who had naively hoped that, despite everything he had endured, living a life of peace would be possible. He took a chance with Magda, and he paid the price.

He has been at the mercy of fate stealing everyone he loves for too long. Never again.

_“I’m going to fight for what I have left. Are you?”_

And yet, despite it all, despite the dirt covering the faces of his loved ones, despite the oath he swore to never fall into the traitorous tendrils of hope again… Mystique’s-- no, Raven’s words struck something in him that gave him pause.

Because damn her, she knew that the one thing that would always make him falter was Charles. He was the achilles heel that time and time again, always seemed to get hit.

And so Erik, who was never really dead, crawled out of the grave he had dug himself, and flew to Charles’s rescue.

Apocalypse was a fitting name for the mutant(?). He always seemed to take up so much space, that you’d forget that he wasn’t 50 feet tall. A presence that commanded fear and respect and obedience.

So it seemed fitting, the way he died. In a burst of light, all the flesh had been scorched off his bones, and he disappeared, the only proof he had ever even existed in the bit of char he left on the ground where he stood.

That was it. He was dead.

Erik (Yes, he was Erik now. He was sure of it.) stared numbly at the pitiful stain of a creature that once stood tall with such grandeur. He contemplated if he might have met the same fate if he had not turned at the last minute.

 _‘Or,’_ The nagging, cruel voice in his head supplied. _‘Apocalypse would have won. And Charles, everyone would have died because of you.’_ Erik gritted his teeth and waved the thought away. He had spent too much time pondering possible alternate futures, and it had done him no good.

Erik broke his eyes from the stain of the would-be god and surveyed the area. Peter was being helped to his feet. Or, foot. The poor boy, a broken leg must be the worst nightmare for someone with his abilities. 

He was also acutely aware of the suspicious stares coming from most people in his vicinity. He couldn’t blame them, he had flipped on a dime mere minutes ago. Still, didn’t they have anything better to do? What had Charles told them about him, anyways?

A pained cry came from somewhere above him. His head snapped to the source of the sound.

“Charles,” The name escaped his lips easier than breathing out. Erik levitated with ease to the broken building where his telepath lay. His feet set on the floor and everyone turned to look at him. Good.

“Move,” He snapped gruffly, fully aware that he was in no position to be bossing others around. The two people at his side stepped away nonetheless, because while he wasn’t Magneto in that moment, he could still be equally as threatening.

Erik dropped to his knees at Charles’s side and frantically removed his helmet, shaking hands carelessly dropping it to one side. The two men’s hands immediately held, like instinct, magnets drawn to one another.

“Erik,” Charles breathed, eyes warm despite his tired face. “Oh, Erik. You did the right thing.”

“It always seems to surprise everyone,” Erik chuckled a little. Charles scoffed, and oh, how Erik missed his laugh.

“I can’t imagine why,” He remarked dryly. “In any case, I’m glad you made the right choice. I’m very, very proud of you, my dear friend.”

“Don’t patronise me Charles, me deciding to go against an evil supervillain trying to bring about the end of the world doesn’t automatically absolve me of my crimes,” Erik raised a brow, trying to keep his heart steady from the addition of ‘dear’ in the telepath’s endearment. 

“No, it doesn’t,” The telepath sighed. “But it’s a step in the right direction. So allow me to be proud of you for a moment, alright?” Erik gazed at him fondly, a smile tugging at his lips.

“Alright,” He agreed, absently stroking Charles’s knuckles. “I’ll let you be right about me. Just this once.” Charles smiled despite his evident exhaustion.

“I should like to kiss you now,” He commented as if he hadn’t just verbally hit Erik over the head with a frying pan. “But I feel very faint and I was just mentally punched in the face several times, so I best save that for later.”

“Quite,” Erik said breathlessly, the wind knocked out of him. “I thought you’d be more mad at me, and yet here you are with the flirting.”

“Oh, I’ll berate you later when I have the energy,” Charles laughed flippantly. “Right now I’m kind of…” He waved a hand in an odd fashion, but it got the point across.

“Right,” Erik took a breath and lifted Charles in a bridal carrying fashion. “Best get you home, then.”

“Right,” Charles agreed, leaning his head into Erik’s shoulder. “Home.”

**Author's Note:**

> and then erik stayed and they lived happily ever after the end


End file.
